Travelers planning to fly on Spirit Airlines nonstop from Myrtle Beach to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with the hope of connecting to Nassau, Bahamas, will hit a glitch after Feb. 9.
Spirit launched its nonstop service to Nassau from Fort Lauderdale on Monday, but the airline will drop its nonstop flights from Myrtle Beach to Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 10.
Myrtle Beach travelers can still fly on Spirit to Nassau by making two connections: through New York’s La Guardia Airport and then through Fort Lauderdale.
At least one Myrtle Beach resident is not happy about the schedule change, which occurred after he purchased tickets.
“I’m not going to go north to go south,” said Bob DeCiero, who plans to board a cruise ship Feb. 18 in Fort Lauderdale. DeCiero, who originally is from Massachusetts, said he does not want to fly to La Guardia in February.
“I don’t want to get caught in a snowstorm,” DeCiero said. “I’m not going to throw myself into harm’s way and jeopardize a $5,000 cruise.”
The nonstop flight from Myrtle Beach would have put DeCiero and his wife in Fort Lauderdale before noon. The new schedule has travelers arriving in Fort Lauderdale just before 4 p.m. DeCiero’s cruise is scheduled to depart from Fort Lauderdale at 5 p.m.
Myrtle Beach travelers who want to fly nonstop to the Bahamas have the option of flying on Hooters Air, but that doesn’t help DeCiero.
“I would love to plug myself back into the nonstop service to Fort Lauderdale,” DeCiero said. “Right now, I have to drive.”
Myrtle Beach airport officials said Spirit’s nonstop Myrtle Beach to Fort Lauderdale schedule usually is seasonal.
Spirit launched its nonstop service to Nassau from Fort Lauderdale on Monday.
“They do have a few more weeks to take advantage of the schedule,” said Caitlin Fox, a spokeswoman for the airline.
Fox said the airline has not set a date to resume the nonstop route between Myrtle Beach and Fort Lauderdale.
DeCiero was notified of Spirit’s schedule change in mid-December. He canceled his reservation Dec. 16 and was told he would receive a refund. He hasn’t gotten it yet but was told it is because a lot of people canceled reservations because of the schedule change.
By Kathleen Vereen Dayton, The Sun News
